Toy



P 1959 w. N. WHEELER 2,903,265

TOY

Filed Sept. 24, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l m'l/iam N. Wheeler 1 N VEN TOR BY4.0m

p 8, 1959 w. N. WHEELER 2,903,265

TOY

Filed Sept. 24, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I William IV. Wheeler y INVENTOR."r 1 A'LLLLL I 1" I- \II 1 40 I2 22 United States PatentOfiice PatentedSept. 8, 1959 TOY William N. Wheeler, Lexington, Ky.

Application September 24, 1957, Serial No. 685,908

7 Claims. (Cl. 273-98) The present invention generally relates to a toywhich generally simulates a clown but which may be any type of face orobject mounted in a casing having an opening therein for movement of theface in relation to the casing together with the object having a targetarea which is capable of producing a sound when a projectile engages thesame with the projectile being in the form a ball capable of beingdirected at a certain point of the face of the clown.

An object of the present invention is to provide an amusement device inthe form of a toy simulating a clown with a movable face positioned inan opening in a casing which dodges a ball thrown towards the clown bythe player together with means for preventing dodging movement of theclowns face if the ball is directed at a certain point of the face thuscausing the ball to strike the nose of the clown and ring a bell.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an amusementdevice which is highly entertaining, well adapted for its intendedpurposes, constructed for use by all ages and relatively inexpensive tomanufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing bad to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the toy of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken substantiallyupon a plane passing along section line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the device with the casing removedtherefrom;

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially upon a planepassing along section line 4-4 of Figure 2 illustrating furtherstructural details of the working mechanism of the toy; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the mountingmechanism for the face and the ball.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the numeral generallydesignates the toy of the present invention which incorporates a baseplate or base 12 having depending supporting flanges 14 together with anupstanding hollow housing 16 rigid therewith. The housing 16 is providedwith a circular opening 18 in the front wall thereof together with anarcuate slot 20 adjacent the center thereof and a vertical notch or slot22 at the bottom edge thereof all generally disposed centrally of thefront face of the housing or casing 16 with the opening 18 beingdisposed adjacent the upper edge thereof.

Disposed within the casing 16 and immediately adjacent the inner surfaceof the front wall is a vertically extending elongated plate 24 having acircular plate 26 at the upper end which is provided with indicia 28which simulates a clowns face and which will register with the opening18 to be revealed and observed therethrough. The circular plate 26 issubstantially the same size as the opening 18 but may be slightlylarger. Adjacent the center of the plate 24 there is provided aforwardly struck lug 30 which acts as a stop for the plate 24 forlimiting the forward pivotal movement thereof and generally retainingthe plate 24 parallel with the front wall of the housing or casing 16.Also provided in the plate 24 is a vertical slot 32 below the lug 3d andgenerally in intersecting relation to the arcuate slot 20. At the lowerend of the plate 24 there is provided a pair of down wardly extendingmounting lugs 34 with one mounting lug being disposed at each edge ofthe plate 24. Themounting lugs are connected to a pair of upwardlystruck lugs 36 on the base plate 12 by a transverse pivot rod 38 whichextends beyond each of the lugs 36. Interposed between the mounting lugs34 is an upwardly facing U-shaped member generally designated by thenumeral 40 which includes a pair of spaced parallel leg portions 42 anda bight portion 44 which is substantially arched in the center thereof.The bight portion 44 has a high center and downwardly inclined outer endportions. The U-shaped member 46 is freely mounted on the pivot rod 38for a puipose set forth hereinafter.

One of the lugs 34 receives the inturned end 46 of an axial spring 48encircling the rod 38 and having the other end 50 thereof extendingdownwardly into the opening formed by the upwardly struck lug 36 thusholding the plate 24 and the circular disk or plate 26 adjacent theinner surface of the front wall of the casing 16.

The circular plate 26 is provided with an opening 52 therein forreceiving a projection 54 in the form of the nose of a clown with theprojection 54 being mounted on one end of a bell crank member 56 havingthe apex thereof pivoted between a pair of rearwardly extending lugs 58on the circular plate 26. The other end of the bell crank member 56 isformed in the form of a sphere 60 for reception Within and adjacent to abell 62 mounted on the rear wall of the casing 16 by a fastening member64 which is insulated from the bell 62 by an insulation washer 66whereby the spherical member 66 will act as a gong for ringing the bell62 in the event the projecting nose 54 is struck a blow and forcedrearwardly as shown in the dotted line position illustrated in Figure 2.

Projecting forwardly and upwardly from the casing 16 is an elongated arm68 having a spherical ball 70 on the upper end thereof and having alower end extending rearwardly in right angular relation as designatedby the numeral 72. The rearwardly extending portion 72 of the arm asextends through and is rigidly connected to the walls or legs 42 of thechannel shaped member 4%) above the transverse pivot rod 38 thuscapturing the pivot rod 38 and locking the channel shaped member 44 tothe arm 68 for rocking movement in the plane of the legs or side walls42 within the limits of the incline of the downwardly extending portionsof the bight portion 44 of the channel shaped member 4d. The rear end ofthe rearwardly extending portion 72 overlies an upwardly struck lug 74and is also engaged by the hook end 76 of an axial spring 78 encirclingrod 38 and having an elongated arm 849 having the hook end 76 formedthereon. The other end of the spring 78 designated by numeral 82 extendsdownwardly and engages the rear edge of the opening formed by theupwardly struck lug 86. The spring thus urges the arm 68 to a neutralposition adjacent but slightly spaced from the front wall of the casing16. Also provided on the arm 68 is an inwardly extending projection 84which is at a position for registry with the arcuate slot 20 as well asthe vertical slot 32.

In playing with the toy of the present invention, the ball 70 is heldbetween the thumb and forefinger and pulled forward and downward awayfrom the casing 16 thus tensioning the spring 78. The player positionsthe ball, crosswise of the base 12 in line with the clowns nose 54 andreleases the'ball 70. If the ball is correctly positioned, theprojection 84 enters the arcuate opening 20 and vertical slot 32 andallows the vertical plate 24 to remain stationary. The ball 70 thenstrikes the nose 54 causing the gong or striking member 60 to move upand ring the bell. However, if the ball 70 is not centered with respectto the nose when released, the projection 84 strikes the member 24adjacent an edge of the vertical slot 32 and pushes the clowns face backaway from the opening 18. In this instance, the striking member 60 iscarried back into the bell without striking the bell and the face of theclown which moves backwardly gives the impression of the clown actuallydodging the ball. Thus, if the ball 70 is properly aimed, the clownsface 28 will remain stationary and the bell will be rung by the ball 70engaging the nose 54. If the ball 70 is not aimed properly, then theclowns face 28 will be moved rearwardly without the bell ringing andsimulating the dodging of the clown as the ball approaches therebyproviding a highly amusing and entertaining toy.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A toy comprising a base, an upstanding hollow casing on said basehaving a front wall, said front wall having an enlarged opening therein,a vertically extending plate disposed within said casing and having aportion thereof registered with said opening, said plate carrying apivotal bell crank having a member projecting from the plate acting as atarget, a bell mounted in said casing for engagement by said bell crankwhen the target is struck for ringing a bell, means mounting said platefor rearward pivotal movement, an elongated arm pivotally mounted tosaid base and extending forwardly of the front face of the casing, aball on the upper end of said arm for engagement with said target, meansmounting said arm within the casing for spring biased pivotal movementin a vertical plane and free swinging movement in a transverse planewhereby the ball may be aimed at the target with the spring biasing ofthe arm causing the ball to move towards the target, and means on saidarm for engaging said plate when the ball is improperly aimed for movingthe plate away from the opening or for registry with means in said platewhen the ball is properly aimed to allow the plate to remain stationaryso that the ball will strike the target and ring the bell.

2, The combination of claim 1 wherein said means on said arm includes aprojection, said plate having a vertical slot therein for receiving saidprojection when the ball is properly aimed to permit the ball to contactthe target with the projection etfecting the movement of the target awayfrom the opening if the ball is not properly aimed whereby the platewill dodge the ball if it is incorrectly aimed.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said mounting means for said plateincludes a transversely extending pivot rod, the mounting means for saidarm including a channel shaped member with the bight portion thereofhaving a high center point and downwardly inclined end portions, saidchannel shaped member being rigid with a rearwardly extending portion ofsaid arm and pivotally mounted on said transverse pivot rod whereby thechannel shaped member will limit the swinging movement of the arm aboutsubstantially a horizontal axis and permit rotation of the arm about atransverse axis for movement toward the target, spring means connectedwith the rearwardly extending portion of the arm forming resilient biasmeans for urging the ball towards the target.

4. A toy comprising a base, an upwardly extending member movablysupported on said base, a target on said member, a rigid arm mounted onsaid base for swinging about perpendicularly arranged axes, a projectileon the outer end of said arm for engaging the target when properlyaimed, spring means between the base and arm for urging the arm andprojectile towards the target, and means on said arm for engaging themember for moving the target away from the projectile when theprojectile is inaccurately aimed at the target.

5. A toy comprising a base, an upwardly extending member movablysupported on said base, a target on said member, an arm mounted on saidbase for swinging about perpendicularly arranged axes, a projectile onthe outer end of said arm, spring means between the base and arm forurging the arm and projectile towards the target, and means on said armfor moving the target away from the projectile when the projectile isinaccurately aimed at the target, said means engaging the upstandingmember for pushing the member and target thereon away from theprojectile, means on said base for limiting the swinging movement ofsaid arm whereby the projectile is incapable of hitting the target wheninaccurately aimed.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein said upstanding member is providedwith means for rendering said moving means ineffective when theprojectile is correctly aimed.

7. The combination of claim 6 wherein said projectile is in the form ofa ball, said target including means for producing a sound when struck bythe ball.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

